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Perhaps there has been no other UFC rivalry with the sheer amount of trash talk, backstory, and animosity than the over three-year spat between current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and longtime former champion Jon Jones. The two started off their resilient confrontation with the spectacle that was the UFC 178 media day brawl back […]

Perhaps there has been no other UFC rivalry with the sheer amount of trash talk, backstory, and animosity than the over three-year spat between current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and longtime former champion Jon Jones.

The two started off their resilient confrontation with the spectacle that was the UFC 178 media day brawl back in the summer of 2014, and after fighting once in early 2015, the foregone conclusion that was a rematch was then rescheduled more than once thanks to injuries from Cormier and a never-ending stream of drug-related troubles for Jones.

They’ll finally rematch in the main event of Saturday night’s (July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and today, the two light heavyweight legends went face-to-face for what will hopefully rank as the final press conference of many. Due to that fact, Jones not surprisingly got the trash talk rolling early, snubbing a well-known MMA reporter before going off on “DC” as predicted.

It all started when Cormier was asked if he truly believed Jones had used steroids to get to the championship, to which the champ relied he believed he had and was not afraid to say it:

“Earlier this week, Jon about cried because I accused him of using steroids. Do I feel like he tried to cheat? Yeah I do. Why can I not say what I feel? Why can I not say what I want? If I believe it in my heart, I will say it. And yes, I do believe he’s done it for a long time, so I don’t care.”

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports

Jones interrupted his opponent by asking how long he thought he’d been on the juice:

“How long do you think I’ve been doing steroids?”

Cormier gave an honest assessment of his view, believing Jones to have not used steroids only during the very first part of his career while being dirty for the vast majority of his time at the top:

“Well, you’ve earned the title fight, you know, so I imagine you’re about 3-0 in the UFC, so those first three fights. Ovince Saint Preux, Gusmao, and Forrest Bonnar – what’s that guy’s name that he beat? Yeah, Stephan Bonnar. Stephen Bonnar those three fights is when you didn’t do steroids, but everything else in the middle is eliminated.”

“Bones” then pointed out that he when he was attempting his comeback in early 2016 and posting videos of him lifting insane amounts of weights at a new powerlifting gym, USADA was in effect and he did not test positive, choosing to leave out the fact that he was removed from last summer’s UFC 200 rematch with Cormier for failing a USADA drug test:

“When I started powerlifting four days a week, with these chicken-ass legs , with these bad genetics, and I started deadlifting 600 pounds, squatting 500 pounds, USADA was in full effect. So how did I get away with that?”

Cormier clarified his words, adding that he didn’t believe Jones was on steroids for his lackluster defeat of Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197 last year, and it showed:

“I’m not saying you did it last year versus Ovince Saint Preux. You were clean last year when you fought Ovince Saint Preux. That’s why you look like you look. You look like a bum.”

That’s when Jones took things up a level, sowing off his physique that has been a highly discussed topic this week:

(Lifts shirt up) “How do I look? How do I look DC?”

Never one to rely on the merits of his physique, Cormier brushed Jones’ six-pack off as vanity muscle:

“That’s all just for show.”

But Jones wasn’t playing, as he ripped into an obviously drained Cormier for actually being the one who looked like the junkie of the two, ending the assault with a vicious insult:

“Who looks like a junkie here? Look at this guy’s face. Who looks like a junkie here today? You look like a crackhead with a suit on.”

Finally, Cormier ended the back-and-forth by noting that while he can look like a crackhead with a suit on as long as he’s never been one like Jones had:

“I can look like a crackhead with a suit on, but I’ve never been a crackhead like you have though. So you can say I look like one, but I’ve never been one. I’ve never been one.”

Conor McGregor continues to assure fans and pundits that he’ll return to the Octagon after taking on Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Due to the amount of money he’ll make fighting Mayweather, many have argued that we’ve seen the last of McGregor in the UFC, but the […]

Conor McGregor continues to assure fans and pundits that he’ll return to the Octagon after taking on Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Due to the amount of money he’ll make fighting Mayweather, many have argued that we’ve seen the last of McGregor in the UFC, but the lightweight champion appears to be dead set on continuing his MMA career.

If he does, McGregor feels as if a few options await him in the Octagon, with one being a showdown in Russia with No. 1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov:

“It’s certainly one of the things I would like to do,” McGregor told MMAjunkie backstage at SSE Arena Wembley. “Whether it’s next, I don’t know. I don’t even know how close the Russia thing is. Whether Khabib can pull his (expletive) together; he missed weight.”

The undefeated Nurmagomedov is undoubtedly one of the best lightweights in the world, but he has had issues with his health and his weight, most recently withdrawing from a scheduled interim title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 just a day prior due to problems with his weight cut.

As far as other options go, McGregor admitted a trilogy with bitter rival Nate Diaz is still on his mind:

“There’s a few of them in the mix,” McGregor said. “A few of them need to pull their (expletive) together, though, and get interest going and get me interested. Right now I don’t actually see anything.”

“That Diaz trilogy is also on my mind,” he said.

Diaz famously submitted McGregor at UFC 196 back in March 2016 before the Irishman scored a majority decision in the rematch at UFC 202 last August. Diaz hasn’t fought since and it doesn’t appear that he plans to unless a trilogy with McGregor is on the table.

The Irishman, however, feels as if the Stockton native should be ‘thankful’:

“He should really be thankful,” McGregor said. “Before he fought me he was (getting paid) 20,000 to show and 20,000 to win. His 19th fight in the UFC, and he was on 40 grand. Now he’s a multi-millionaire. So, I don’t know why he’s sitting there so bitter. Maybe them smacks he took in that rematch messed with his head a little bit. I hope not, but I think they did.”

Gunnar Nelson wants to get back in the thick of things at welterweight. Nelson will step inside the The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland this Sunday (July 16). Sharing the Octagon with him will be Santiago Ponzinibbio. The bout will serve as UFC Fight Night 113‘s main event. Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Nelson said he’s happy to be […]

Gunnar Nelson wants to get back in the thick of things at welterweight. Nelson will step inside the The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland this Sunday (July 16). Sharing the Octagon with him will be Santiago Ponzinibbio. The bout will serve as UFC Fight Night 113‘s main event. Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Nelson said he’s happy to be […]

The mayhem that is the Mayweather vs. McGregor world tour concluded its fourth and final stop earlier today (Fri. July 14, 2017) from London, England. In their final confrontation before the weigh-ins for their clash next month, “The Notorious One” and “Money” got their final opportunities to trash-talk their way into their opponents minds before […]

The mayhem that is the Mayweather vs. McGregor world tour concluded its fourth and final stop earlier today (Fri. July 14, 2017) from London, England.

In their final confrontation before the weigh-ins for their clash next month, “The Notorious One” and “Money” got their final opportunities to trash-talk their way into their opponents minds before they strap on the boxing gloves and go toe-to-toe. Yesterday the press tour found its way to Brooklyn, New York, where Mayweather made a rather odd move against his Irish counterpart.

Mayweather shouted “form Voltron” and his body guards (who won’t be passing any USADA tests anytime soon) surrounded McGregor and blocked him away as Mayweather walked off. As expected, McGregor addressed the incident during today’s press conference in London as he verbally attacked the 49-0 boxer’s “juicehead monkeys”:

“What’s with these two juice-heads you got?” McGregor asked. “What the f*ck was that yesterday? He jumped up and he shouted ‘Voltron Power Rangers!’ And these f*cking juiceheads walk up and stand in front of me. Mate, 40 years of age! Get your f*cking sh*t together, my god!.

Mayweather and McGregor will finally get the opportunity to settle their differences inside the squared circle live on Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada next month (Sat. August 26, 2017).

Nobody enjoyed their time on the road more than Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
Maybe in the end that was part of the problem.
The “world tour” designed to drum up hype for the pair’s August 26 boxing match wrapped up Friday in London the same way…

Nobody enjoyed their time on the road more than Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.

Maybe in the end that was part of the problem.

The “world tour” designed to drum up hype for the pair’s August 26 boxing match wrapped up Friday in London the same way it began Tuesday in Los Angeles—with Mayweather and McGregor standing on stage screaming obscenities in each other’s faces.

After four press conferences in four days in four different cities, there wasn’t much left to do. We’d already seen everything these two showmen had to offer. In that way, the initial publicity push leading up to next month’s mega-bout in Las Vegas certainly didn’t disappoint.

But it also didn’t really surprise.

The verbal barbs between Mayweather and McGregor remained predictably lowbrow throughout, but—while chaos eternally loomed just off stage—their traveling circus ultimately came off as contrived. Even as they preened and prodded and called each other every nasty name they could think of, it was plain to see there was no real animosity here.

“He could have rode off into the sunset 49-0,” McGregor told the London crowd. “Instead, this is my first time in a boxing ring, and in six weeks I run boxing. How the f–k did they let me roll up in here? They got f–king greedy, that’s how.”

Mayweather just laughed in response.

Indeed, when they finally make it to the ring at T-Mobile Arena next month, we can rest assured the competitive fires will be fully stoked. But this? This was just marketing—with Mayweather and McGregor starring as partners in crime.

“You’re the student. I’m the f–king teacher,” Mayweather told McGregor during his time on the mic Friday. “August 26 I’m going to take you to school.”

Aside from a brief scuffle between their two camps at Thursday’s event in Brooklyn, the fighters never really touched each other during this junket. Near the end of his remarks in London, McGregor rubbed the top of Mayweather’s head with his palm, but the boxer just chuckled at the gesture.

And so it went on. And on. And on.

Through these four events, which routinely started late and just as often dragged in the middle, neither guy succeeded in provoking much of a response from the other. In the end, the vibe was more like a series of celebrity roasts than an airing of real grievances. The back-and-forth flame wars played like banter between the leads in an awkward buddy comedy more than two men embroiled in a blood feud.

As McGregor stalked around the stage in Toronto on Wednesday and implored the crowd to chant “F–k the Mayweathers,” Floyd and his team roared with laughter. When Mayweather tossed handfuls of cash in the air over McGregor’s head at the Barclay’s Center to show that he had money to burn or that he owned McGregor—or something like that—the Irishman used it as a photo op:

Even when McGregor strayed over lines of racial sensitivity and repeatedly harangued Mayweather to “Dance for me, boy,” the boxer and his entourage only grinned at each other like they knew it was coming. And conspiracy-minded fight fans immediately began to speculate: Maybe they did?

And really, Conor and Floyd have no real reason to be mad at each other.

Especially for McGregor, this fight represents the opportunity of a lifetime. After more than two years of rumor and conjecture, the cocksure mixed martial artist has finally landed the opponent who will set his family up for generations. McGregor has already said he could bank $100 million for taking on Mayweather—a notable pay increase from the reported $3 million purse he earned in his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202.

“I get to quadruple my net worth for half a fight?” McGregor said in London. “Sign me up.”

Likewise, there was no other adversary in the conventional boxing landscape who could bank Mayweather as much money as McGregor. The greatest pugilist of his generation now has the chance to end his brief retirement and collect a hefty payday for what he surely expects will be a light night of work.

So, yeah, who can blame them if during all this nose-to-nose gum-bumping it occasionally felt as though they could barely keep straight faces.

Aside from Thursday’s train wreck in Brooklyn, the two fighters managed to mostly keep things from going off the rails. McGregor started on shaky footing in L.A. but quickly regained the form UFC fans have grown accustomed to from their lightweight champion since he burst on the scene in 2013.

Meanwhile, Mayweather consistently showed why he’s been a top draw in boxing for years.

This was two of combat sports’ best trash talkers working in tandem to promote an event that will make each of them hundreds of millions of dollars. Every time Mayweather called McGregor a “bitch” or an “eejit” and every time McGregor poked fun at Mayweather’s age, fashion sense or reported trouble with the IRS, they were really just stuffing money in each other’s pockets.

Most everything here was all in good fun.

You could see it on the face of Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who—dressed to the nines nearly every step of the way—arguably laughed loudest at McGregor’s best lines.

You could see it in the Cheshire cat grin on UFC President Dana White—whose epic sunburn and thunderous introductions of McGregor were among the unsung stars of these events.

You could see it on the grimace of Showtime exec Stephen Espinoza, who, even during McGregor’s profane rants against him and his company, maintained an expression that said he’d sit there as long as it took to cash the checks from this pay-per-view.

And you could see it in the performances of Mayweather and McGregor themselves.

Credit these two men for going out there day after day to sell a grudge where none likely exists. With the bout itself expected to be a dominant victory for Mayweather, this fight had to be sold on the singular nature of the matchup and on doctoring-up some emotion.

Derek Campos wants to do everything he can to ensure victory in his third bout with Brandon Girtz. Campos and Girtz meet for the third time tonight (July 14) inside the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The two will headline Bellator 181 live on Spike. The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET. MMAMania.com recently […]

Derek Campos wants to do everything he can to ensure victory in his third bout with Brandon Girtz. Campos and Girtz meet for the third time tonight (July 14) inside the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The two will headline Bellator 181 live on Spike. The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET. MMAMania.com recently […]